Ithaca College

As a reminder, the deadline for nominations of self or others to the President's Advisory Council on Innovation is this Friday, March 12. 

I have been gratified by the strong response to my request for nominations and self-nominations to serve on the President’s Advisory Council on Innovation (PAC-I). The number of people who have stepped forward with enthusiasm to help envision the future of Ithaca College bodes very well for our ability to navigate skillfully through a challenging time. 

The deadline for nominations of self or others is this Friday, March 12. Please send nominations to president@ithaca.edu, with “Nomination for PAC-I” in the subject line. Additional details, repeated from my first message, are below.

The charge to this group will be to brainstorm together on a number of areas in which we seek to better fulfill our mission as being “the standard of excellence among residential, comprehensive colleges.” The PAC-I will develop skill in imagining together the future of the College, using a student-centered perspective that focuses on identifying ways we can have the most powerful possible impact on integrative student learning, as identified in our mission.  Questions of organization, policy, programs and priorities will all be on the table for the PAC-I to consider.

Of course, should any ideas generated in the PAC-I have implications for the existing processes of shared governance and consultation with our key constituencies, they will be fully vetted with and approved by those groups before being implemented. 

The PAC-I will begin its work later this semester. Some deliberations or possibly a retreat may occur over the summer, though availability over the summer is not a pre-requisite to membership. The term of the PAC-I will likely run for at least the next full academic year, though it is not necessary for every member named this spring to be on campus next year as well.

What we do seek are individuals whose vision, creativity, and enthusiasm for the future of Ithaca College will enable them to contribute to fresh thinking on how we can achieve our mission of excellence. We seek individuals who can be effective and respectful members of a team, and who would not view their role as being limited to advocacy for a single cause or constituency. All discussions will center on the mission of Ithaca College, and how we can better achieve it.  

Nominations of self or of others are welcomed. There is no specific form for nomination and a submission need not be lengthy. However, whether you are nominating yourself or someone else, it would be helpful to offer the clearest possible indication of why you think your nominee embodies the traits described above.